Bell Pepper Salad (capsicum) with Grilled Polenta

I have been greatly inspired by David Rocco’s Dolce Vita series. It’s so refreshing to watch Nina and him travel and cook his daily Italian food. Italian food is definitely more than pizza and spaghetti, there is the insalate, the florentina, the frittata and the countless types of cheeses. I am now on a mission to cook and eat Italian food at this moment.

I have always love roasted bell peppers (capsicums) but have not succumbed to making skinless roasted peppers, mainly because I did not like the idea of charring the peppers over gas burners. A healthier option would be over some charcoal fire but then again who would in a right mind would fire up a load of charcoal just for this mundane work. Lighting the charcoal itself proves to be very tedious work for me at this very moment. Anyway to cut my blabbering, I used the gas burners.

Toast the peppers over the gas burners to char the skin and immediately throw them into a big paper bag and knotted to trap the steam. This is to enable the skin of the peppers to come off easily when scrapped with a paring knife. Remove theÂ skin, seeds and core of the peppers, leaving only the flesh which is then cut into 1/2 cm long strips. Place ready peppers aside.

Heat up a pan and drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil. Throw in the prepared peppers, tomatoes and olives. Stir for 2 minutes.

I just love the soft and warm textures of the roasted bell peppers in this salad, makes me feel I am in Italy just tucking it in.

ThisÂ is not all. I am serving myÂ bell pepper salad with grilled polenta slices. Polenta is a productÂ of cornmeal, originated from South America if I am not mistaken. It makes a good replacement for potatoes or rice.Â This is a very simple recipe, easy to make and good to eat.

Bring water to boil, put in chili flakes and add polenta into the boiling water in a continuous stream, whisking at all times for approx. 2 minutes.

Add butter, cheese, rosemaryÂ leaves and parsley, lower heat and whisk for another 2 minutes until you get a bubbly molten lava textured polenta. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour into a greasedÂ large round baking tin to cool before placing into the fridge for 5 hours to harden.

Take polenta out and cut polentaÂ into preferred shapes and sizes. Leave to room temperature forÂ 30 minutes.Â Heat a grill or griddle, drizzle with olive oil and place the cut polenta slices onto the grill for 2 minutes each side just to create the grilled effect. Serve polenta slices hot with bell pepper salad. Don’t forget your wine and Italian accent!